Kauffman Seminar

Dear UW Colleague,

We’re pleased that you are interested in the Joseph F. Kauffman Administrative Development Program, often called simply “The Kauffman Seminar.” The Program is designed to help meet a need that is critical to any university: fostering the next generation of campus leaders. It does that primarily by giving people who are in an administrative role, or who might aspire to one, an opportunity to develop a clearer picture of UW–Madison as a whole—its scope, structure, and governance, its history and culture.

Open to faculty, academic staff, and university staff, the Program aims to help answer questions like:

Who are the University’s leaders today? What motivates or frustrates them? How do they incorporate their commitments to scholarship and learning into their administrative roles?

How is UW–Madison organized? What are its sources of tangible and intangible support? Where are the connecting threads in such a sprawling institution?

How is UW–Madison different from other major public research universities, such as our Big Ten counterparts? How has our past shaped what we have today?

What are some of the issues confronting higher education, and how might UW–Madison respond to them? Where do we stand with respect to access and affordability for students, public perceptions of universities and political interventions based on those perceptions, as well as major shifts in funding sources?

How can the university balance values that sometimes conflict, such as unfettered inquiry with a coherent mission, or openness with security?

In short, the Kauffman Seminar seeks to help participants develop a more nuanced picture of the university in its context while building a personal network of contacts with other participants and University leaders. We know you’re good at what you do; we try to help you situate your work within the structure and culture of UW–Madison. If those objectives are aligned with your own, we invite you to consider participating.

Sincerely,

Jeanette Roberts, Dean Emerita of the School of PharmacyJulie Underwood, Susan Engeleiter Prof. of Education Law, Policy and Practice, and Former Dean of the School of Education